What We Didn't Know
by alder3049
Summary: Keefe is gone. It still doesn't seem real to Sophie, Dex, Fitz and Biana. But when they get caught by the Neverseen, they find out that there is a new tool, a new impending horror. And they also find out that Keefe has a secret. A secret that could end this silent war, or be the end of the Elves. But, even with this newfound evidence, can they still win? Now complete!
1. Captured

**Thank you to everyone who commented on my other story, One in a Million, and thanks to SB-Potterhead Budgie Lover for being the first! The ships in this one are as follows: Sophitz, Foster-Keefe (don't ask until you read it) and kind of Diana (is that the ship name?), though that one doesn't really change anything about the plot. This story is set pretty much directly after Keefe breaks everyone's heart at the end of** ** _Neverseen._** **Btw, Shannon Messenger owns everything (well, except the plot to this.) Enjoy!**

Nothing had changed. The silver hairbrush was still on the dresser, the bed was still unmade, and clothes were still scattered across the floor. Vertina was still on the far wall, and her head in the corner of the mirror was sleeping. With a sigh of sadness and fatigue, Sophie dropped her purple backpack and flopped onto her bed, squashing the flowers in the carpet in the process. Keefe was _gone._ And now, they were all in danger, being back in the Lost Cities. She wanted to take Fitz, Biana and Dex and rush back to Alluvetere, but she knew that wasn't safe anymore, either. No, not since Keefe had decided to become a traitor. But, even though _she_ still believed he was living there because he was trying to save his mom, no matter how evil she was, it was showing to be difficult to make her family see that. _Very_ difficult.

Though her mind was still spinning with broken fragments of hurt, worry, and sisterly love, Sophie slowly sank into a troubled sleep. First, she was being chased down the corridors of Alluvetere by the Neverseen, until she escaped into a room she didn't know the belonging of. Until she saw the notes tacked to the walls. _Keefe's_ room. Which she had vowed never to think of again. But, suddenly, as she touched one of the notes, she was ripped away. Now she was at a Neverseen hideout, she presumed, with Keefe himself leaning against the wall. His blonde hair was matted, his eyes sunken like he hadn't eaten lately, and his face scraped and bleeding. He was pleading with someone, though Sophie didn't know whom. A storm was brewing in the distance, dark clouds low over churning water. It felt like cold hands were slapping her face. Wait—what?

"Sophie. _Sophie."_ She awoke quickly, to Fitz's dishevelled face. "Augh! Um—hi—what are you doing here?" She hoped he didn't notice her creeping blush, but she doubted he did. His face was troubled.

"They're outside."

As he leaned back, she got a glimpse of the rest of her darkened room—Biana and Dex, each wearing a Balefire pendant that made their faces look ghostly in the light.

Sophie sat up, thankful that she had fallen asleep in her clothes, and caught a Balefire pendant that Dex tossed her. The sky was lit with tinges of orange and pink—it would be sunrise soon. Each of her friends looked like she presumed she did—lines of worry crossing their foreheads, dark circles under their eyes from lack of sleep. Biana hadn't put any makeup on, and Dex's hair was more dishevelled then usual. Fitz sighed next to her. "We need to get out of here, now. Far away. Sophie, can you teleport?"

She nodded—she could, though she didn't want to—and led the way down the stairs, skipping the creaky ones. They only breathed freely once they were on the dewy grass. Biana gave a worried smile. "I guess they haven't caught up to us yet?"

And then she screamed.

People, people dressed in the dark cloaks of the Neverseen, were closing in from all sides, jumping up from the Cliffside gate, dropping from Calla's tree. Sophie scolded herself silently for being so insolent. Of course the Neverseen would be hiding, laying in wait for them. It had only taken a matter of time.

They were split up, each gagged and bound, eyes and nose covered by a dark cloth. But before Sophie was forced into darkness, the hood of her captor lifted, just a little, in the summer breeze. Scared blue eyes and a shock of blonde hair.

Before, it hadn't seemed real. Now, she knew the truth.

"Keefe?"

 **So, there you go! Please comment and favorite! I'll be (hopefully) posting every week at the latest.**


	2. Exposed

**Thank you for commenting on chapter 1: Captured, those who did! And shoutout to Cress070, who helped me with the general plot of this chapter and the introduction of new human characters (who aren't that new, no spoilers) and where the Neverseen are, which I'll reveal in chapter 3, hopefully. Go follow her!**

Sophie awoke in darkness, slumped against a wall. Her back ached and her mouth felt gritty, filled with a sour taste. She rubbed her head, blearily opening her eyes.

And staring directly into a pair of green ones.

A wave of emotions and thoughts rushed toward Sophie's brain, and she pulled up what seemed like a ridiculous amount of mental energy to create a block. It had been almost two years, but Sophie would recognize her younger sister anywhere. Amy (or Natalie) pulled back, letting Sophie see the rest of the room. Sophie, Biana, Dex and Fitz were asleep against one wall. Sophie's parents were against another, heads slumped on shoulders. Amy's eyes were round with questions. "Who—who are they?" No matter what kind of job Washers had done, it was evident that Amy's memories had come back. Sophie didn't know how to explain. "Amy, I'm not—I'm not one of—you don't know…" Her voice trailed off as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Sophie, are we…" Fitz's teal eyes went wide as he took in Amy, her ripped purple t-shirt and shorts. Wherever they lived now, it must have been warm. "Are you Sophie's sister?" Fitz asked, faltering on _sister._ Amy rolled her eyes. "Um, obviously. And you're what? Sophie's boyfriend?" Fitz and Sophie both blushed. "No, um, it's not like that," Fitz said as the others shook awake.

Biana screamed. Dex managed to look pleasantly puzzled.

And then Keefe walked in.

Sophie's side of the room was filled with shouts and death threats, which woke her parents. They shook the sleep off, then rushed for their daughters, crouched in the middle of the room, but a Neverseen behind Keefe stopped them with a quick Melder blast. He spoke, and Sophie recognized Brant's cold voice. "Don't mess this up, Sencen." Then he strode out of the room, cloak billowing.

Keefe swallowed. He looked terrible, even more so than he had in Sophie's dream—his cheekbones and the space under his eyes gaunt and sunken, blonde hair overgrown and matted. His face was a mess of bruising, his hood ripped clean off. There was a scar, still pink, roping from his left eye to his chin. Cuts through his robes showed still-bleeding gashes underneath. Sophie realized, with a satisfaction she wasn't proud of, that his Neverseen badge was gone, but so was his registry pendant. With a grope at her own neck, she realized hers was too, along with the Balefire pedant, allergy medication, her Nexuses and Dex's panic switch. Keefe held out a hand and she took it, noticing yet another new scar on his wrist as he pulled her to her feet and silently undid her bindings. He led her out of the room, finally speaking when they had reached the hallway outside.

"Sophie. They know." His voice was raspy, like he hadn't used it lately. "They know everything. I'm going to be executed."

Sophie's gasp echoed up and down the hallway, a hundred voices feeling her pain. "What? They—they do that to elves? What do they know?"

Keefe shushed her, all traces of the jokester she had once known gone. "I'm sorry to be telling you this way. I was hoping the great Sophie Foster would have some ideas. And I'll tell you everything, I promise, but not here, and not now. I'll tell you where we can meet—all of us."

They were standing in front of an iron door now, and Keefe lowered his eyes as he shackled her to the bar outside. She almost couldn't make out the "watch out for yourself" he mumbled. But then he looked up, blue eyes scanning every inch of her face, and, almost impulsively, kissed her cheek. Then he raced down the hallway, leaving Sophie with her troubled thoughts and the iron door.

 **Yay, I had enough creativity to squeeze out a Foster-Keefe chapter! I promise there'll be more Sophitz in Chapter 3, as that _is_ the ship I follow. Please comment, follow, favorite. And I'd love some suggestions on how to torture Sophie (that sounds _really_ creepy), with writer credit, of course. Thank you! You make my day!**


	3. Tortured

**Holy cow, you people are awesome! Thank you to EVERYBODY! I'm sorry it's been a few days since I've uploaded, I've been busy. Hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S.—Shannon Messenger owns everything!**

The room behind the iron door was cold, hard, and strangely familiar, Sophie thought, as she was pushed inside by another indistinguishable Neverseen member. Another door was off this room, but it was wood instead of metal, white in colour, with chips in the paint and one long slash of red that Sophie didn't want to think about. Instead, she watched the Neverseen member tie her to a metal chair, and then unlock the wooden door at the other end of the room. Something was bugging her about that door…it was like déjà vu, except she had no memories of everyone being taken by the Neverseen.

And then the door swung open.

Brant, accompanied by Keefe once again, walked through, the burns on his face crackling into a smile. "So. If it isn't little Sophie Elizabeth Foster." Sophie didn't like that he knew her full name, nor did she like the way Keefe had a new gash along his cheek that was still bleeding. Brant stepped in front of Keefe, blocking her view. "I hadn't expected Sencen to still… _care_ about you," he snarled, "But it's worked out rather well for us, hasn't it? You care too much, Sophie. Especially about people who aren't even _elves."_ He nodded at the mysterious Neverseen member, who grabbed hold of a metal screen, which gave way to a window showing Biana, Dex, Fitz, her parents and Amy, standing in another bare room. Sophie struggled against her restraints, trying to get to them. Brant laughed, and slammed the screen shut. "Yes. Every time you lie, and Mr. Sencen here will be able to tell when you do, your friends and human family will be tortured. Of course, it'll be fun to torture you, too." He laughed again and held out his hand. Flames danced in his open palm, which he shook out. "Now. First question." Keefe took hold of her hand, his fingers icy. "Why are _you_ the moonlark?" She answered in a whisper. "I don't know." Brant scoffed. "Yes, of course, you don't know. Now, what is the _real_ answer?"

Sophie struggled again under the restraints: Fitz was calling out desperately. _Sophie. Where are you? What are they doing? They took us somewhere and I can't—_ The connection cut out, and then returned in one sharp burst that hurt Sophie's head. _WE'RE IN YOUR OLD HOUSE, SOPHIE._ She gasped. Brant didn't seem to notice. Now she knew. The door, that was her old closet. And the window—it looked outside. She was in her old room. The Neverseen had just, well, _upgraded_ it. Unless Keefe and Brant had been hiding out in her closet. And that would've been _super_ weird. Not just We're-part-of-an-evil-cult-and-our-leader-is-insane-because-his-mind-is-broken weird.

Brant had noticed that Sophie hadn't asked. "Why are you the Moonlark?" He asked again, louder, and Sophie could see fire in his eyes. She gritted her teeth. "I. Don't. Know." Keefe put his hand up, like he was in class. "She actually doesn't know, sir." Brant rolled his eyes. " _Why_ did I pick _you_ to accompany me, Keefe Sencen? Alright, next question. Who is Mr. Forkle?" Sophie struggled again. "I can't answer that." Brant smiled. "Okay. I know you're lying. And people who _lie_ have to face the _consequences."_ He strode over to Sophie, still smiling, and placed his hands on her neck. They burned. They burned with fire, and Sophie knew she was close to blacking out as Brant held her tighter: black stars were dancing across her vision, and she could barely feel Keefe as he dropped her hand and started yelling, and Fitz's voice was in her head, too, yelling: _SOPHIE, WHAT'S HAPPENING, YOUR MIND IS, I DON'T KNOW, IT'S GOING, I CAN'T HOLD ON…_

But it felt like she was being sucked away from a light leap: feathers of softness were carrying her away on clouds, and she couldn't hear Keefe's screaming, and Brant's fire wasn't burning anymore. In fact, she couldn't feel his hands on her neck anymore…now he was covering her eyes, closing them for her as she sank into the warm feathers, and she mumbled a thank-you, but she was oh-so tired, and the warmth was calling her with happy feathers, tickling her, and she saw Keefe, trying to pull Brant's hands off her face…but Brant wasn't an enemy, he was a friend, she was trying to explain, what had Brant ever done to her? And Keefe was gripping her head, shaking her, _Sophie, please don't be gone, don't go, don't die, Sophie, hold on, they're coming, it'll be okay, Sophie, just hold on._

And then she was gone.

 **Yay! Another chapter done! I hope you like this one, because I got shivers writing the ending, and I hope that's a good sign…thanks to Cress070 for the idea of the Empath telling if Sophie was lying, and the idea to torture her family as well…please comment more ideas, everyone! I really enjoy reading them!**


	4. Broken

Sophie awoke slowly, savoring the moments between sleep and wake. She didn't want to open her eyes yet; she had a feeling it would hurt when she did, and, anyway, now she was in a soft gray fluffy cloud that was quite to her liking. But now, she could hear someone speaking. She pushed herself up out of the fluff, just a little bit, to hear what they were saying.

"No," she heard Fitz's voice state. Then Biana's: "But, Fitz, the prince _always_ kisses the princess in the stories. Please?" Fitz again: "No. And what about Dex? He's a prince too, as far as I've heard." Sophie could practically _see_ Dex shaking his head. "No. No, no, no, no, absolutely _not._ She's my best friend, not my _girl_ friend." Sophie faintly realized that they were talking about her, but she didn't really care. And now it was Fitz's voice again. "We'll try something else. Come on, Biana." Biana: "We've _tried_ everything. You've tried to get in to her mind over and over, we've tried CPR, we've tried loud noises and whispered words. What's left?" Fitz sighed. "Alright."

Then she could feel someone's breath on her cheeks, and she ripped her eyes open blinking in the light. Fitz was an inch from her face, teal eyes wide, blushing from the roots of his hair. "Um…hi?"

And about a thousand sparks of pain shot through Sophie's neck. It seemed it was still burning, still hurting, Brant's fingers were still on it. She sat up slowly, glancing at her reflection in the windows. They were back in the room they had started in.

Burns, charred almost black, made their way in anguishing fingerprints up her neck. Red welts caressed her cheeks and eyelids, as well as her arms. Fitz, Biana and Dex only looked at her sadly, Fitz's blush still colouring his cheeks. "We thought you were gone," Biana said, voice cracking, fighting off tears. "For real. _Gone,_ Sophie."

Sophie fingered the charred flesh around her neck. Someone had spread a cooling liquid on it, taking away most of the burns' pain. Fitz spoke now, his eyes on her burned fingers. "I'm sorry, Sophie, but Keefe said he had to tell us something. He said he'd take us where we needed to go, but we had to meet at the window. Can you walk?" Sophie took a shaky breath. "I know the secret. Or at least part of it." Her voice cracked, like it had been charred along with the skin. "He's going to be—he's going to—" Her voice was too strained. "Keefe's going to be executed."

Biana gasped. Dex looked like he had developed a terrible illness. Fitz was deathly pale. "Are you sure, Sophie?" She nodded miserably. "Then there's no time to lose."

Fitz and Dex helped her to the window, where Keefe pulled her through, a swirl of black in the navy night sky. His touch was surprisingly gentle.

The trip was hazy—Sophie had pushed herself to the limit going to the window—and all she remembered was being carried by Keefe, the others surrounding her like bodyguards. The scene became all-too-familiar, though, when she was set gently on the ground. They were in the museum, specifically the wing where she had met Fitz. Keefe sat next to her, looking like he was going to be sick.

"The reason I've brought you guys here, the reason I've told Sophie part of my secret, is that—is that—is that I'm going to be excecuted. But you already know that." He broke off here, and Biana hugged him before he carried on. "This crystal will leap you directly to the room you're in." He held up a blue leaping crystal.

"I've been sworn to secrecy on this, so I have to say goodbye now. Because—because my mind will break when I tell you." He went around the huddled circle now, embracing everyone. Biana was crying, silent tears streaking down her face, mingling with the dirt and crusted blood. Keefe sat down again. He was trembling.

"I know Sophie's parents."

He stopped, expecting reactions, but everyone was silent, still processing that he would be gone. The dark skeletons of the dinosaurs seemed strangely appropriate.

"Bronte, and—and—" Keefe gasped. He was going now, the light in his eyes fading. "Lady Cadence."

Sophie heard herself gasp, but everything seemed muffled. Fitz was shaking Keefe, asking his to please leave, tears running down his face. Keefe was broken, it was for sure, but not because of guilt. This was different. He was truly gone, and as Dex pulled Fitz away and held the blue crystal to the moonlight, Sophie knew it. Keefe wouldn't be there to double cross, wouldn't make jokes, wouldn't annoy his parents, wouldn't be there ever again.

If only it hadn't had to be this way.


	5. Gone

**Hi, guys! Look, I'm really super sorry I haven't been updating this Fanfic, but I was getting MAJOR writer's bock on it. This will be the last chapter, pretty much totally because I don't want to leave it hanging for weeks like that again. I've got some ideas for maybe another KOTLC fanfic, so I'll work on that and try to publish it soon. Thank you to all that commented! You are the best!**

The waves beating against the rocks made an ominous sound, furthered by the rain lashing down on the tiny stretch of beach. Sophie gulped, tears coming to her eyes again as she glanced at the very _human_ -looking guillotine in front of them. She hadn't thought Keefe was actually going to be _excecuted_ excecuted. A wave of memories washed over her as the storm around them darkened.

Lady Cadence and Bronte, offering up their unborn child to the means of science. Sophie didn't know _how_ she knew this, exactly, or _why_ the Black Swan would have placed it in her memory. But it was there. Some surprises were never meant to be.

All those times they had been mean to her—were they really trying to protect their daughter? Did they know she was who she was? Were they part of the Black Swan? So many unasked questions, so many that would never be answered.

And Keefe—that first time she met him, after she'd burned Lady Cadence's cape. He was just a trickster then. Skipping classes, the Great Gulon Incident, forcing things into Dame Alina's office—that was what he was good at. And now?

Sophie came back to reality, with the crazy wind and rain, tethered to a tree trunk with her friends, as Brant and Alvar half-carried, half-dragged Keefe onto the beach. He sagged between them, hair greasy and dirty, matted with sticks and leaves, face grimy, Neverseen uniform ripped and bloody. Biana gasped, but Sophie spoke first.

"Please, can't I fix him?"

Brant grinned menacingly. "Sure, Moonlark. Know what you're doing?"

Alvar undid her rope, and she dropped to the ground beside Keefe, her tears dropping onto his closed eyes. She placed her fingers on his temples, and willed herself to enter his memory.

It wasn't like other broken minds, so bent and twisted it was like a mirror house at a fun fair—everywhere you looked were memories, but the colours a little off, people speaking nonsense. This was like Keefe's mind was sleeping. An everlasting cloud of gray, hovering over his feelings like cotton candy. She fought through the layers, like an ogre's mind more than anything else, down to the feelings and memories.

Now they were ghastly, horribly disfigured, pieces and parts drifting here and there, pasting themselves into spots they didn't go. But it didn't matter. She had found the rope of warmth.

And Keefe was back—spluttering on the beach, cold wind rippling through his cape. Fitz cheered. Everyone else was silent. Brant looked taken aback. "So, uh, Moonlark, you've done it," he said, trying to regain his position. That'll make it that much easier to break your little minds with pain."

Keefe bent down, frantically whispering in Sophie's ear. "Sophie. It's my turn to be the hero. Take everyone else, jump off the side of the cliff and teleport. You can still save yourselves." He gave her a sad smile, then turned to face his certain death.

And Sophie turned the other way, pulling everybody off the cliff with her. There was one last piercing scream, and then silence. Keefe was gone. He had gambled his life for theirs.

Sophie hardly even noticed when Fitz pressed his mouth to hers.

 **So, there it is! Thank you to everyone who has commented! Can we get this to 20 comments? 25? My challenge to you.**


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